Protecting Bella

1. My name is Olivia Swan

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I had just gotten home from the hospital when I heard the doorbell, which had hardly ever been used, ring.

I quickly went to see who might be at the door because being a vampire; it wasn’t really the best idea to have too many friends come over to your house.

At the door was a young girl who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. She was very pretty for a human, though definitely not a vampire, and for some reason she smelled extremely wonderful. Like a cherry blossom, but much stronger. She was tan, tall, slender yet athletic with long, light, chestnut brown hair, amber eyes, long eyelashes and the biggest smile that I had ever seen.

“Hi, my name is Olivia, and I was wondering where I might find Carlisle Cullen because I know that he lives near here somewhere. I’m from out of town and I needed to ask him a very important question.”

I was confused to why someone not from Forks would want to talk to me let alone ask me an important question. I accidentally showed the confusion in my features, and she responded by looking surprised and confused herself, but the smile never left her face.

“Well, I’m Carlisle, come inside so we can speak more comfortably.”

I then noticed that she had luggage with her. She had a backpack, a large suitcase, and a small suitcase. I wondered why she would, most people put there luggage in a hotel or something before looking around the town, even if it was a town as small as Forks.

“Well, I was wondering if I could stay with you and your family for a little while, I have an explanation for why I need to.”

I was intrigued by this girl, but most of all I couldn’t stop staring at her dazzling smile. I wanted her to tell her story so I was very patient about her answer. She sensed this so she continued.

“Well, as I said before, my name is Olivia and I have a secret, just like you do.”

At this I was shoked, and Olivia noticed it, so she continued by apologizing.

“I’m very sorry to startle you like that, I didn’t mean to. Let me start by telling you how I know this. I’m one of the next protectors; my sixteenth birthday is in a couple of months and being what I am, I can’t stay at home. My mom knows about it, but that’s about it. I was assigned to this state, to protect it, so I need a place to stay.”

I had met protectors before but I hadn’t seen one in centuries. Most of them were either dead or had gone into hiding. There used to be dozens and dozens of them. Protectors were supposed to protect the people from dangerous vampires, and to keep the peace between the werewolves and the vampires, so that giant fights didn’t break out between them and let humans know about their existence.

“I’m going to fully change in April, and then I’m going to move into my uncle’s house. He lives in Forks, and he has a daughter, I think she’s a senior in high school.”

I thought about this for a moment, then asked “Who is your uncle, I mean I understand that you can’t see him until you’ve transformed completely, but I’d like to know in case of an emergency.”

She hesitated and then said “My full name is Olivia Swan. My uncle’s name is Charlie Swan, and my cousin’s name is-”

“Bella Swan.”

“Yes, how did you know that?” she said astonished, but she still had that dazzling smile spread across her young, pretty face.

“My son, Edward, is her fiancé. They just got engaged a couple of weeks ago, after we had just come back from being away from Forks for awhile.”

She was surprised by this but was ecstatic at the same time. I wondered if she knew about the engagement or not. Maybe Bella and Edward hadn’t told the family yet. Knowing Charlie and his way with Edward this possibility suddenly made much more sense. And knowing Bella, she wouldn’t want Charlie to have a heart-attack because she was getting married to a boy (technically Edward was a boy) who her father did not like.

She then bursted with energy that I had never seen before. It startled me.

“Wow! I never imagined Bella getting married this soon! I mean Aunt Renée was always very against getting married at an early age after what happened between her and Uncle Charlie, you know?”

I was glad that she was excited for Bella and Edward, most people still didn’t know about it, and how much they truly cared for each other. How their love was tested a few weeks ago when he thought Bella had flung herself off a cliff and died. Instead she was just jumping for recreational purposes, but when Alice saw her do it in one of her visions; she naturally thought she was committing suicide.

“So wait a minute…you have a son? It’s just that I thought that vampires couldn’t have children because you know, since you’re not really alive-”

“Oh he’s not really my biological son, he’s my adopted son. I changed him into a vampire when he was a human.”

She instantly understood what I meant. Then she asked “You have other family members, other vampires, right? I think their names are Esme, Alice, Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and then of course, Edward. Am I right?”

“Yes, you are right, but how did you know that?”

“Oh, well protectors have an assortment of powers that come when the final transformation begins, on their sixteenth birthday. They are faster than both vampires and werewolves, stronger, have exceptional eyesight, and hearing. All those come gradually as the day that they turn sixteen comes closer. Then we also have a scent that attracts humans, vampires, and werewolves. We are also physically attractive, and we can see into vampires and werewolves pasts, read their minds, send messages through thought, and erase human memories if needed.”

I now remembered the characteristics of most protectors that I had met in the past before the thought of killing them occurred to the evil vampires that didn’t want to follow the rules that vampires had to follow in order to not get in trouble with the makers of those rules, the Volturi. This explained the odd, yet delightful, scent that was coming off of her.

“Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you need to, Olivia, but I’ll need to introduce you to everyone so that they won’t get confused by why you’re living here, and you’ll have to explain what you are to them.”

“Oh, that’s quite alright, I don’t mind explaining as long as I’m not intruding on anyone’s personal space.”

At that moment, I heard Rosalie’s car pull up in the driveway. “Ah, there’s Jasper, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie now. You can at least explain your story to them while we wait for Edward, Alice, and Bella.

She seemed excited, and I noticed how jumpy she was. I could barely hear her heart beating quickly, probably due to the growth she had already had so that her body could prepare for the transformation it was awaiting. I knew the transformation would be even more painful than the one needed to become a vampire or werewolf. I had seen a protector transform and just hearing the screams of the person undergoing it make you want to curl up in a ball, so as not to endure the pain yourself.

When Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and my Esme walked through the door they immediately smelt the smell that would have stopped anything, whether it was a vampire, werewolf, or even human, in their tracks. Rosalie was looking concerned, but not mad, which I was immediately relieved at. Emmett was worrying about Rosalie first, but after seeing her reaction was then very amused, and started to roar with laughter. Jasper, as always, was calm though he did seem confused at what Olivia might be. And then of course there was Esme, my darling Esme, who was only surprised by the fact that there was a protector there, instead of wondering what Olivia was.

Olivia, seeing each of their odd expressions, quickly covered with an answer to why she was there. “Hello, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme. My name is Olivia and I am a protector, and I have come to live here with you until April. That is when I will complete my transformation into being a full protector, so you won’t have to put up with me for that long. I’m very sorry for this huge inconvenience, though.”

My Esme being the kind and loving being that she is spoke up right then and said “Oh, it’s no trouble at all, you can stay as long as you need to! Isn’t that right, Carlisle?”

I, of course didn’t mind, knowing something that they didn’t, and said “I already told her that she can stay as long as she wants to.”

Olivia was waiting very anxiously for the rest of the party to voice their opinion of her, the smile never leaving her face.

Jasper sensing her tension immediately said “I don’t mind at all, she’s OK with me to stay in our home.”

Then Emmett said and laughed at the same time “It’s going to be really fun having you around, Olivia!” And with that he gave her a great bear hug and a noogie.

Everyone was now of course waiting for Rosalie's response. She surprised all of us, and delighted Olivia by saying “It’s very nice to have you in our home, Olivia.” She then gave her a hug, too.

That was when Olivia confessed about that one other detail. “In April, I’m going to go live with my uncle and cousin. They live in Forks, that is why I asked to bunk with you guys until then, because I can’t just show up at his house, go missing for four days after my birthday, and then come back looking totally different, if you what I mean.”

Then Jasper asked the big question. “Who is your uncle, Olivia?”

“Um, you probably know him. His name is Charlie Swan, and my cousin is Bella Swan.”

At this even Esme was surprised, but what was more intriguing was that we heard Edward's car come up in the driveway now.

Olivia, knowing what this meant, got extremely excited and started to almost jump off the walls with anticipation. Jasper tried to calm her down, but the effect did nothing, simply because, in nature, the protectors are more powerful than a werewolf and a vampire put together, for obvious reasons.

When Bella, Edward, and Alice finally came through the door, Olivia blasted over to Bella with superhuman speed. Of course, Edward was shocked by the strong, yet attractive smell coming off of Olivia. Alice, probably knowing that Olivia was coming before everyone of us, was still a little shocked by the smell.

But Bella, oh Bella, she was almost as excited as Olivia was, though she was surprised. She instantly recognized Olivia, and was squeezed by her, and squeezed back with all the might that little Bella had in her. When they were done hugging, many questions had yet to be answered.

Bella said to her “Olivia, oh my goodness!! It’s so nice to see you! You’ve grown so much taller than me! You look great, how are you?”

Olivia enthusiastically said to her at the same time she was asking “Bella!!!!! I love what you’ve done with your hair! It’s gorgeous! You look fantastic! How have you been doing?”

We all smiled warmly at the reunion that was happening before our eyes.

Then they realized something and said simultaneously:

“What are doing here?” (To Olivia)

“You’re engaged?” (To Bella)

They both blushed though Bella’s was by far the deepest, as always. Then Edward stepped in and said “So, Olivia, what relationship do you have with my Bella?”

At this Alice interrupted with “Hi! My name’s Alice Cullen, and this,” she said pointing to Edward, “is my brother, Edward, what is your name? You never mentioned it, before, when we first got home.”

Olivia then apologized. “Oh, I’m so sorry about that! My name’s Olivia Swan, it’s very nice to meet you both!”

At that Edward was intrigued and asked her “Are you a relative of Bella’s?” Olivia answered as if that was the question she had been waiting to hear all day.

“Yes! I’m her cousin on her dad’s side.” She then turned to Bella and ambushed her with questions. “So I hear that you are getting married to this fine gentleman here, why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

Bella blushed deeply again and said “Well you know how Renée is, she doesn’t exactly approve of rushing into relationships, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I understand, but you could’ve called me on my cell!”

“Well, it only happened a couple of weeks ago!” And with that, no one in the room could’ve not noticed the giant grin that had spread across Edward’s face.

“I mean, I haven’t even told Charlie yet! And plus, he would want me and Edward to break off the relationship, and I couldn’t bear to have that conversation with him. I couldn’t stand to be without him!”

Olivia being the obvious caring person that I sensed she was, just smiled that dazzling smile she had and she hugged Bella in a hug that almost suffocated her. Then she did an odd thing and sniffed the air. At this she wrinkled her nose.